Why I don’t like breeders

Why I don't like breeders

Cat and dog breeders.  These are people that I find myself thinking about often.  Maybe it’s because I look around at my mix of 10 purebreds and mixed breeds and wonder how they ended up here and if the people who intentionally or unintentionally produced them even care where all those puppies or kittens ended up.  Or maybe it’s because I wonder how so many people can knowingly contribute to pet overpopulation, which in turn, leads to millions of cats and dogs being killed each year.   Read more

Building a strong bond with your cat

bond with cat

While cats are known to be pretty independent and optional obeyers to us humans, there are things you can do and not do, to build a strong bond with your cat.  By following these tips, you can build a bond that is just as strong or stronger than the ones normally reserved for dogs.  And unlike dogs, who sometimes require food as bribery, cats, who usually are not so easy to manipulate, will choose to obey you without any food enticement.

Read more

Tricks for giving medicine to cats and dogs

medicine to cats and dogs

When it comes to giving supplements or medicine to cats or dogs, it can either be easy or difficult. Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of both ways, so I thought I’d share the methods I use and other helpful recommendations I’ve run across to help others.  I also wanted to warn cat owners of some disturbing information I ran across that I wanted to pass along.

Read more

Pet cloning and why I’d never do it

cat dog pet cloning

Recently, Barbra Streisand admitted she’d cloned her dog.  As more details came out in a second article a few days later, as well as all the interest in cloning I saw generated online, I decided out of my own curiosity to peek into the nuts and bolts of pet cloning.  Knowing nothing about it, I quickly found myself horrified reading about the dark side of the industry.  It’s one that’s seldom talked about openly and definitely not during magazine or tv interviews, and of course not by Barbra or any of the other people who have decided that a clone of their deceased cat or dog is worth whatever the cost.       Read more

Why I let my cats go outside

cats outside

I know this is a controversial topic and it is not one that I take lightly.  My cats and dogs all mean the world to me and I’d never intentionally do anything to bring harm to any of them.  Everything I do, I try to do with their best interests in mind.  I want them all to live forever and since that’s not possible, I want the time that I do have them to be the best it can be.  After weighing the pros and cons, observance, and even discussing it with the animal communicator, who agreed with me, I’ve decided that my cats are all happiest when they are free to come and go outside as they please.

Read more

Easy diarrhea treatments for cats and dogs

If you have a cat or a dog, an almost certain issue you’ll have to deal with at some point is diarrhea.  Whether it’s as simple as a result of eating something they shouldn’t, the result of medication use, or a change in food that suddenly creates havoc in the bathroom department, it’s a good idea to be ready to act when it happens.  Luckily, there are three inexpensive and easy diarrhea treatments for cats and dogs that should help resolve the issue quickly.

Read more

The secret powers of vitamin C

vitamin c for cats and dogs

Last year, when my dog Roxie was diagnosed with cancer, I immediately came home and spent hours and hours researching things that would help get her better.  A lot of the supplements I read about that were recommended, I’d never heard of. There was one that caught my attention though, because of how it is administered in dire cases and what ailments it can help with in both cats and dogs.  It was vitamin C.  I never realized how many things vitamin C was good for treating in cats and dogs until I researched further.

Read more

How to train a cat

When I took in my first rescue cat, KK, I really didn’t know exactly what I was getting into.  All the previous cats I’d ever been around as a kid had been outdoor barn cats, so acclimating one to indoor living was new to me.  Indoor living was also apparently new to KK as well, given how determined he was to go outside whenever he wanted.  As I found in my experience with KK and all my subsequent cats, you have to train a cat, just like a dog, to follow rules and learn what is and isn’t allowed in the home for it to be a happy and harmonious place.

Read more

My experience with an animal communicator

While hiring someone to “talk” to your pet might seem crazy to more than a few people, when you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you’ve exhausted all other options, it starts seeming more and more like a good idea.  That was the case for me when one of our barely one-year-old neutered male cats decided to go on an unauthorized journey.  While I wanted to believe an animal communicator would be the answer to my prayers, I went into it with a healthy bit of skepticism.  I hoped that this stranger I researched and hired was the real, legitimate deal and could help me get my young cat back.

Read more